Inaugural ceremony at the Palace of Independence in Minsk

Aleksandr Lukashenko has been sworn-in as the President of Belarus in an inaugural ceremony in the Palace of Independence.

Several hundred people have been invited to attend the ceremony. These include senior officials, members of the House of Representatives and the Council of the Republic, heads of government bodies and organizations, local executive and executive bodies, the national media, scientists, figures of culture and sports.

In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, the President assumes the office after taking the following oath: “Assuming the office of the President of the Republic of Belarus, I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the people of the Republic of Belarus, to respect and protect the rights and freedoms of man and of the citizen, to observe and protect the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus, and to fulfill strictly and conscientiously the lofty duties that have been bestowed upon me.”

Holding his right hand on the Constitution, Aleksandr Lukashenko took the oath in the Belarusian language. After that Aleksandr Lukashenko signed the act of taking the oath, and Chairwoman of the Central Election Commission Lidia Yermoshina gave him the Certificate of the President of the Republic of Belarus.

“It is with a special feeling that the President swears allegiance to the Fatherland and the people on this solemn day. He has a lot of pride for Belarusians who have passed the test of integrity, first of all, of their beliefs,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “The day of the President's inauguration is a day of our common victory, a convincing and fateful victory. We did not just elect the President of the country. We defended our values, our peaceful life, sovereignty and independence. In this regard, we still have a long way to go,” he noted.

The head of state said that the year 2020 will go down in history as an extremely emotional period. “Our statehood has faced an unprecedented challenge – the challenge of a fail-safe technology which has been used repeatedly to destroy independent states. We are among the very few, maybe even the only state where a color revolution has failed. It was the choice of Belarusians who do not want to lose the country,” the President stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the recent events revealed that an absolute majority of Belarusians loves their land, wishes it peace, tranquility and prosperity. “Despite the devilishly sophisticated pressure from the outside, they still respect each other,” he added.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Thanks to Divine Providence the people of Belarus easily and, frankly speaking, unexpectedly gained its independence one day. We took it for granted for a long time. We didn’t appreciate it at times. Today after suffering to achieve this victory we’ve reached a new stage of self-awareness. Cooling off after the heat of election battles, we see how our entire nation matures. Belarus may be such a young independent state on the world scale, but as a nation Belarusians are no longer children, we are a nation.”

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that while on the edge of a world crisis it is necessary to return the country to a safe life that had existed in Belarus forever, it is necessary to reach accord for the sake of future. “And we will do it. I cannot, I have no right to abandon Belarusians, whose political preferences, whose fate and the future of their children are tied to the government policy. I cannot abandon all those, who remain true to the country and the nation in such a complicated period for Belarus. They are those, who heroically battled the threat of the pandemic and showed their best professional and personal qualities, those, who remained reasonable while the society was disoriented. Civil servants and people in uniform demonstrated tenacity, courage, and solidity,” the Belarusian leader noted.

Aleksandr Lukashenko is convinced that they did it not only due to the call of duty but due to their conscious choice. “Honestly speaking, I saw people at work, I understood that patriots surround not only me but our people,” he said.

The President also noted that workers of Belarusian enterprises showed their wisdom by choosing to work instead of protesting in streets. Agricultural workers did well. Thanks to them the regions lived a normal life all these months – growing and harvesting crops from the fields.

“The state policy in the field of science, art, and sport will inevitably generate new heroes. I would like them to adequately appreciate their state investment in them and would like them to always be grateful to the state,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

“The strength of the Belarusian authorities and the confidence in them come from the fact that even in the most difficult times we have never given up on our social policy and have always remained a socially-oriented state. Support for pensioners, large families, and socially vulnerable groups of citizens will remain Belarus’ signature policy under any circumstances,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

It is important that the youth should respect their parents, the head of state said. “We have given our children a great example of wisdom. We have shown them that something new can be created only on the basis of previous achievements,” the President stressed.

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the country will continue moving forward and supporting innovations and effective economy. “Wise cross-border investors will welcome our efforts to create attractive business conditions. However, people and our willingness to meet their expectations at a new qualitative level will be at the heart of the state policy,” he noted.

Building a new society which is more receptive to new social and political initiatives is another priority, the President said. “I have already said that we are working on the new Constitution. We should create conditions for the development of a true party system, improve the electoral legislation, and reform local self-government system. This work is already underway. I am absolutely certain that the only formula for Belarus’ survival is a strong government, commitment to the course, and support of people,” the head of state said. “The core of our development is the will of the people that is exercised here, in our country. We will sort out our problems on our own, without outside interference. We will come to an agreement and ensure cooperation between all groups of the society in compliance with the law and on the basis of mutual respect,” Aleksandr Lukashenko added.

“We have faced a series of tests in the difficult leap 2020. We have upgraded healthcare and technologies, forms of self-organization and mutual support of society. We have tested the agricultural sector for stress resistance, significantly strengthened our energy security. Unprecedented external pressure has only made us stronger, made us more determined and uncompromising in our resolve to fight for what belongs to us - we do not need what is not ours," the President noted.

Should there be new trials, the state is ready to face them, the President said. World crises are usually followed by periods of development, he said. “I believe that the world public life will be restoring fast, and we can expect a period of new economic, logistics, technological and other solutions soon. We need to fit in this ‘renaissance’, harness its opportunities, and develop the things we can,” the head of state said.

“We are all united by energy, determination and commitment to our homeland - independent and free, peaceful and safe, good and open to the world. With all these trials, we have not lost ourselves. This means we are able to build the country we love and dream about. I will do everything so that you will never regret that I was the first President of our Belarus,” the head of state concluded.

After Aleksandr Lukashenko was sworn in as the President of Belarus, Belarusian military swore an oath of loyalty to the nation and the President.

Representatives of various military service branches took part in the ceremony. They swore to the Belarusian people and the commander-in-chief that they will always be ready to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Motherland.

Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin read out the text of the oath: “We, military personnel of army units of the Republic of Belarus, assure the entire Belarusian nation and you, comrade commander-in-chief, that we are always ready to reliably protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our Motherland. Today, on the day the President of the Republic of Belarus assumes office, we solemnly swear to bear with dignity the high title of the Fatherland’s protector, to selflessly serve the Belarusian people and the President of the Republic of Belarus, to protect our Motherland with courage and skill without sparing our strength and life! We swear!”

In response the military repeated “We swear!” three times. The orchestra performed the state hymn of the Republic of Belarus after that.